Ball State University
UTSA
It's GO TIME... Softball Opens 2020 in Louisiana
February 05, 2020 | Softball
THIS WEEK
The Ball State softball program opens the 2020 season Friday, when it battles UTSA (3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT) and No. 8/10 Louisiana (5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT) as part of the Louisiana Classics hosted by the Ragin' Cajuns.
Saturday, the Cardinals travel to McNeese for a pair of games at the Cowgirl Classic, facing Prairie View A&M (2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT) and the host Cowgirls (4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT) ... Ball State closes opening weekend back at Louisiana versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. CT).
SCHEDULE & LINKS
Friday, Feb. 7 at Lamson Park (Lafayette, La.)
 - vs. UTSA (3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT) - Live Stats
 - at No. 8 / 10 Louisiana (5 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. CT) - Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
Saturday, Feb. 8 at Cowgirl Diamond (Lake Charles, La.)
 - vs. Prairie View A&M ( 2 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. CT) - Live Stats
 - at McNeese (4 p.m. ET / 3 p.m. CT) - Live Stats
Sunday, Feb. 9 at Lamson Park (Lafayette, La.)
 - vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. CT) - Live Stats
QUICK HITS
» Ball State enters its 46th season of play with a 1044-1058-4 all-time record in the sport of softball ... The Cardinals have tallied at least 30 wins in a season 15 times, including each of the last three under head coach Megan Ciolli Bartlett.
» While Ball State is 6-64 all-time against ranked teams, three of those wins have come against top 10 programs ... The latest was a 3-0 win at No. 3 Arizona on March 2, 2014 ... The Cardinals also scored a 2-1 win versus No. 3 Missouri on March 19, 2010 and a 5-4 win over No. 8 Michigan on March 9, 2002.
» The last time Ball State defeated a ranked opponent was May 15, 2015 with a 6-3 victory at No. 21 Notre Dame in the opening game of the 2015 NCAA South Bend Regional.
» Senior infielder Janae Hogg enters opening weekend needing just two RBIs to become the 12th player in program history to reach 100 RBIs ... Last season, Hogg drove in four RBIs on opening weekend, including what proved to be game-winning RBI with a solo home run in the 1-0 victory over Penn State (Feb. 9)
» Last season, senior closer Alyssa Rothwell led the nation with 14 saves ... She already holds the Ball State and Mid-American Conference career records with 28 saves, and is five shy of breaking the NCAA career mark of 32 set by Kellie Wilkerson (1999-02) of Mississippi State.
GETTING AN EARLY START
When the Cardinals take the field Friday, Feb. 7, for a pair of games at the Louisiana Classics, it will mark the second-earliest start to a season in program history ... The only earlier first pitch came in the 2015 season, when the Cardinals open the year with an 11-8 victory over South Dakota on Feb. 6 at the Music City Classic hosted by Lipscomb.
IN SEASON OPENERS
Ball State enters Friday's game versus UTSA with a 27-18 all-time record in season-opening games ... In fact, the Cardinals have won nine of their last 11 season openers, including a 7-4 victory over LIU Brooklyn last season.
ALL-TIME VS. THIS WEEKEND'S OPPONENTS
The Cardinals are 2-11 all-time versus teams it will face this weekend in Louisiana ... Ball State is 0-7 all-time versus Louisiana, 1-4 all-time against McNeese and 1-0 all-time versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff ... The Cardinals will be playing both UTSA and Prairie View A&M for the first time in the sport of softball.
BALL STATE IN THE MAC
Since 2009, Ball State has proven to be the MAC's premier program by compiling a 156-72 (.684) league record ... Kent State is second over the same span at 151-78 (.659), while Miami is third at 146-93 (.611) ... Overall, Ball State boasts a 428-425-1 (.502) all-time MAC record over 37 years.
ABOUT THE CARDINALS
Ball State returns 15 of its 22 letterwinners from last season, including eight position starters, sophomore starting pitcher Tieghan Morio and Alyssa Rothwell ... The Cardinals finished the 2019 season with a 34-20 overall record, including a 9-8 mark in MAC play ... Morio was a second team All-MAC selection last season, while Rothwell led the nation with 14 saves ... On offense, the team's top eight hitters return to the lineup, including first team All-MAC honoree junior infielder Stacy Payton.
CARDINALS LOVE THE LONG BALL
Last season, 14 different Ball State players hit at least one home run ... Only one team in the nation had more players with a least one home run last year, Virginia Tech at 16 ... The next closest MAC teams were BGSU, Buffalo, Miami and Toledo at 10 ... Of the 14 players who went yard for the Cardinals last season, 10 return to the team this year led by Janae Hogg ... Hogg blasted 10 bombs in 2019 and leads Ball State's active players with 29 career home runs which ranks fifth in program history ... Stacy Payton and junior outfielder Kendall Fields each tallied nine homers last season.
WALK THIS WAY
In addition to being one of the nation's top power hitting teams, the Cardinals ranked 13th among all NCAA Division I programs with 229 walks last season ... 11 of the 12 teams with more walks than the Cardinals earned berths in NCAA Regional play ... Toledo was the next closest team in the MAC with 189 walks ... Senior outfielder Haley Dominique led the Ball State offense with 30 walks last season.
THE BIG 100
With a 9-1 victory over Montana (Feb. 24), Ball State softball head coach Megan Ciolli Bartlett picked up her 100th career win as coach of the Cardinals ... The ninth coach in program history, Ciolli Bartlett is the fifth coach to reach 100 wins at Ball State ... With her 123-99 all-time record, Ciolli Bartlett is the fourth-winningest coach in program history behind Craig Nicholson (2007-2013) at 241-162, Terri Laux (1997-2006) at 222-283-1 and Jeri Findlay (1982-92) at 201-302-3.
